After CONMEBOL’s draw was very favourable indeed to them, the hosts were expected to qualify from Group A. But after the first two matches, very few people would have thought them capable of beating Peru 2-0. Yet that’s exactly what they’ve done, thanks to goals from Alejandro Cichero and Daniel Arismendi in the second half. It’s Venezuela’s first win in the Copa América in - wait for it - forty years, and combined with Uruguay’s 1-0 defeat of Bolivia (goal below) it puts them on the verge of the quarter-finals.
There were sendings-off for Ricardo Páez of Venezeula and Pedro García of Peru, but there won’t be many sleeping in San Cristobal tonight. Nor in Caracas, Maracaibo or anywhere else in the country, for that matter. Uruguay’s win came courtesy of a second half strike from Vicente Sánchez, and keeps them in with a shout. Venezuela have four points, Uruguay and Peru three, Bolivia one; the remaining matches see Peru play Bolivia and the hosts take on Uruguay.
Goal (Uruguay 1 - 0 Bolivia):
Sánchez: Uruguay 1 - 0 Bolivia (58th min)
Venezuela 2 - 0 Peru:
Cichero: Venezuela 1 - 0 Peru (47th min)
Arismendi: Venezuela 2 - 0 Peru (79th min)
Filed under: Copa América, Football, Goal videos, International football, Results
